A Sinda's Pain is a Hobbit's Bliss
by Elinde
Summary: I wrote this story ages ago so the chapters might be posted more frequently than normal. Set when Thorin & co. travel through Mirkwood. Contains Bilbo's, Thranduil's & Legolas' points of view.
1. Trees have ears

**Discalimer: they all belong to Tolkien, not me ( _sobs_ )**

_Note: Thranduil's personality is different from normal. Maybe this is because he is king, maybe because my ideas about him have changed since I wrote this._

_**Trees Have Ears**_

Thorin and company made ready to camp for their third night in the forest. It was pitch black. There was no movement in the trees, no breeze on the ground.

Bilbo watched them set up camp miserably. He had grown to hate the forest much quicker than the dwarves and had been grouchy as a consequence. Now, he pointed out every error that the dwarves made in pitching camp.

"If you hold your tinder box with the lid facing down, you'll lose everything. You'll probably set fire to the forest and burn us all alive as well!"

"Oh, do be quiet!" Ori snapped back.

The dwarves were quickly irked by the hobbit and sent him away to be on lookout duty, a task which he resented bitterly. Grumbling, Bilbo settled himself at the edge of the clearing and peered into the inky blackness.

_A warg could be about to jump out from the trees and I would never know. I can't see a thing._

But he could sense something. He thought that eyes were boring into his back. He didn't turn round. He didn't want to be faced with a grinning set of teeth. Instead, he listened intently to the creaking and cracking of the trees.

Gradually, he became aware of a conversation among the dwarves, concerning wood-elves. He turned round so he could hear better:

"I don't want to be filled with arrows as if I were a pin cushion!" Bofur complained.

"There is no other way through the forest. We have to use the elf-path, as we have been doing." Balin replied.

"But it'll take forever-"

"Mirkwood is a large place. It will take a while no matter which way we go."

"Why didn't Gandalf stay with us?" whined Kili.

"He would have been of most use here too." added Fili.

"The forest is the least of our worries," put in Thorin, "The elf who rules this realm is a tyrant, or I'm a fool. He locks innocent people away without prevail and then forgets about them." Bilbo shivered.

"But he's an elf-"

"Your point? They say he left his heart in the Land of Shadow."

Bilbo thought he heard a low growl coming from the trees. His head whipped round.

"What is it?" asked Balin, who had been watching Bilbo out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see how he reacted to Thorin's comment.

"Don't know." came Bilbo's short reply.

Both hobbit and dwarf now watched the tree that the noise had come from.

O

Legolas breathed a deep sigh. He should not have made a sound, even when the dwarf leader insulted his father. But now he knew the company's number and intent, he slipped down the tree and away into the forest.

O

The gates swung open and a cloaked figure ran quickly into the hall beyond. Legolas pulled down his hood and went in search of his father. He found him in his study, financial papers strewn across his desk.

_Winter is nearly upon us already!_

The prince trailed a foot along the wooden floor, alerting the king to his presence. Thranduil held up his left hand in a just-a-moment gesture. Legolas waited. After a while, Thranduil set down his quill and regarded his son.

"Hir-nín, there is a company of dwarves several leagues within our borders."

"Why are they in so far unchallenged?"

"I do not know, Sire. I can only suppose that no-one was patrolling the area." Green-leaf knew this wasn't going to be good enough.

The king stood. The prince felt his father's eyes on him. He raised his head. Pale blue eyes met steely sapphire ones. They stayed locked, but Legolas wasn't nervous. Laughter danced in his monarch's eyes.

"Tell me, ion-nín, what would you do in this situation?"

"I would arrest them and bring them here at once."

Thranduil tilted up his chin and regarded his only child down his sharp nose. His thin mouth formed a smile.

"Yes. You could do that, but it would be extremely boring." He was no longer trying to hide his laughter. "Why don't we see how well they know the forest? How much of a real threat they are?"

Legolas' brow creased.

"I don't follow."

Thranduil walked almost idly up to his son and whispered in his ear:

"Let us see if they will follow the lights."


	2. Lighting the path

_**Lighting the Path**_

It was now over a week since the dwarves plus one hobbit had first set foot in Mirkwood. The food and drink had run out, they had wasted all their arrows and Bombur had fallen into the enchanted stream. He had been in a deep sleep for days, but yesterday- if indeed it could be called day- he had woken up and talked of a large feast with the most wonderful food imaginable, until Thorin had told him to:

"Be quiet or I'll throw you against a tree!"

But Bombur had set the whole company thinking about food and- more importantly- the lack of it.

By nightfall, there wasn't a stomach in the whole company that didn't resent Bombur reminding it of the delicacy of food. The group settled down, miserably and tried to rest. Very few of them succeeded.

Half the company were wooing sleep when all were raised by Glóin,

"Look, lights!"

In an instant, everyone was up. It wasn't just lights that they could see but a feast as Bombur had described.

The dwarves made a beeline for it but none prevailed. As soon as the first dwarf stepped into the firelight, it was gone. This happened again a few minutes later. By that time, they had left the path and were completely lost.

But at least they were still together. The third time, they lost Thorin and were captured by spiders, all that is, save Bilbo.

A fight ensued that the company barely won, only to realise that they had lost Thorin.

"The Elvenking has taken him!" Glóin cried. None of them expected to see him again. This had to be the worst part of their journey so far, which hadn't been a piece of cake. So when the wood-elves halted them, they made no protest. Only Bilbo did something, he put on his ring and disappeared.

O

Legolas was amazed and slightly worried at how deflated the dwarves appeared to be after losing their leader. He dearly hoped he wouldn't be as bad as them if anything happened to his king.

_Stop it, you idiot. You are not a dwarf! You would be able to cope._

His men counted the dwarves after they had been bound in a long line.

"Twelve."

"They are all here then?" He murmured, not wanting the dwarves to know his father held Thorin captive too. "Good," he said out loud, "Take them back as quick as you can. Night falls quickly here."

As the company marched past he saw, or thought he saw, a thirteenth shadow flit into the torch light. He shook his head. It was gone.


	3. Invisible forces

_**Invisible Forces**_

It didn't take long for the company to make its way through the forest to the Elf-king's halls. The company slowed down as they crossed the bridge, the guards making sure that the dwarves didn't fall in and pull their comrades in with them. However wary the wood-elves were, they didn't want to see potentially innocent beings drown through not having their arms free to swim.

As they made their way into the elven palace, Bilbo faltered. He did not wish to pass through the cavern mouth.

_It will eat me._

Bilbo didn't know how close to the truth he was. Once closed, the doors could only be opened by one with the king's permission to leave.

He stumbled through, only just in time as the doors clanged shut. The last elf frightened him; he seemed to be following where Bilbo was.

_Can elves see through the ring's disguise? No, they mustn't be able too, or they would have already found me._

As his eyes grew accustomed to the light sent out by the torches, Bilbo lost his breath. The entrance hall was awe inspiring.

The dwarves were briskly marched down the winding corridors that made up the back passages around the palace- the guards wanted to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Even so, they past several dozen elves along the way who were hushed with a gaze from the elf leader.

_Mayhap he is a lord among them, or higher._

Bilbo didn't have that much longer to contemplate this, however, as a few minutes later they had stopped in front of large, oak doors, lavishly decorated with gold and mithril in the shape of trees and flowers. If the dwarves had seen it, they may well have scoffed.

The lordly elf made his way to the front of the group and knocked on the door thrice. A voice like music spoke in the elven tongue from beyond the door:

"Nimmo!"

The doors were opened and the company stepped inside.

Bilbo was astonished by the Elvenking. "Beautiful" fell utterly short of reality. He was slender, but immensely powerful. His face was thin and ivory white but his hair was deep gold and his eyes were deep, blue and piercing.

_No need for him to use a knife to cut things. He could just glare at them and they'd fall in two._

He ordered for the dwarves' various bonds to be cut, though the seething dwarves showed no sign of thankfulness.

What followed was as one would expect. The Elvenking questioned the dwarves and the dwarves gave cheeky replies. Eventually, the king lost his temper and threw them into his prison cells.

_Never to be let out again._

Slowly, the throne room cleared until just Legolas and Thranduil were left. And Bilbo, of course. Father and son let out a deep sigh.

"What shall we do with them now, Adar?"

"We shall wait. Either they shall learn manners and become willing to tell me their business or they age and die. Personally, I hope for the former."

"Mae. All the while, we shall have to feed them."

Thranduil laughed.

"Of course we shall feed them! If I wanted them dead, I would send them to sleep and leave them with the spiders: you know full well that that is not how I do things."

Legolas looked away, only to turn back as his father shot up, gazing round like a hunted deer.

"Are you all right?" Asked Legolas, gazing anxiously at his father's wide, terrified eyes.

"Can't you feel it?" He stammered. Legolas shook his head. "Sauron's power. Don't you sense it in the air? It is as if he were here at this very moment. I told you he was not gone!"

Bilbo, who couldn't quite hear, moved closer.

Thranduil jumped five foot in the air, spinning round as he did so.

"Where are you?" He shouted. "I know you are here, where are you?"

Both Bilbo and Legolas just stood there, dumbfounded.

Galion entered, only to have his king grab him by the arm and drag him to where he had been. Galion's eyes opened wider and wider as he drew closer to the now terrified hobbit.

"How did He get here?" The butler whispered. He wondered if his king's magic, the magic that kept the forest relatively safe, had finally vanished.

"I do not think He is here himself, just something of his. Something that holds a lot of his magic." replied Thranduil, who had regained control of his mind somewhat.

"But WHAT?"

"When I first saw the dwarves, I thought I saw a Halfling as well," Legolas said, his voice barely above whisper level, "I thought it was just my mind playing tricks. Then again, when we first entered, I counted and extra shadow, but it was wavering and when I shook my head it had gone."

Thranduil appeared to stare at his son, but was really staring at nothing. Suddenly, something fell into place and his face went grave.

"I think you had both best follow me," he said, "Galion, could you gather my advisors in the Thrond-Galen. Something has just occurred to me that would explain this: something that is not good."

The dark haired elf left, as did the royal family, all two of them. Bilbo felt a sudden pang of sympathy for the Elvenking and his heir.

_If the two of them are all that remains of their family, how many people dear to them have they lost over the ages?_

But this feeling was quickly suppressed as he realised that he didn't have the faintest idea where he was.

* * *

I think that's about half the story. I don't want to publish it all at once and here seems a good place to stop for today. The rest will be published tomorrow. (If I remeber!)

I know I keep describing Thranduil but every now and them my mental image of him changes. And besides, those who know what I think he looks like can skip my descriptions! ;-)


	4. Chasing a shadow

_**Chasing a Shadow**_

The emergency council had just been dismissed. The advisors had managed to persuade Thranduil that he was tense and therefore imagining things.

"The Ring was lost, Aranhir. It has not been re-found. There is not fourteenth member of the company." Said Rúmil.

"Why would you have a company of thirteen?"

"Mayhap thirteen is not unlucky for dwarves."

"Mae na!"

Even so, the king let the subject drop. The other elves, convinced by Rúmil's words, carried on with their daily business.

The king was not convinced. He kept half an eye out for anything that would prove him right beyond doubt. Not just because he wanted the truth to be known but because some of his subjects were spreading rumours that the king had gone mad, if only for a while. Some even wondered if he should still be king.

_That's all I need, a rebellion._

Legolas wasn't at all sure who he believed. His father was seldom wrong but what he was proposing was very farfetched.

"A Halfling bearing the ring." Legolas said to himself, shaking his head. "How ridiculous."

But Thranduil was about to get some of the evidence he was looking for.

A few weeks after the dwarves had been captured and the day after the Autumn Feast, Cútur came running into the throne room. The king was in a good mood, for the nightmares he'd been having about the Wars of The Jewels, Of Wrath and Of the Last Alliance had finally left him the night before. And so he greeted Cútur with a smile that the Chief of the Guard hardly felt he deserved.

"My most gracious Lord," he began, bowing low. Thranduil raised a sculpted eyebrow.

"All thirteen dwarves escaped last night during the revelry." He launched into a detailed account of his knowledge of events of both the night before and that morning.

By the time he had finished, Thranduil had got up and was pacing round and round in a circle.

The other elves present were murmuring amongst themselves. Thranduil raised a hand and the room fell silent.

Cútur was shaking in his boots. He daren't meet the king's eyes. Thranduil was regarding him with the air of a parent regarding a naughty child. Legolas knew that look well.

"Where is Galion?" Thranduil asked, looking round the throne room like a snake about to make its kill. The playful smile filled the onlookers with dread.

Galion was pushed forward and he quickly knelt before his lord.

"Do you remember what I told you, Galion?" Thranduil asked.

"Mae."

"And what was that?"

"That Isildur's bane is found."

"And you dismissed it?"

"Mae. We all did-" Thranduil bent down to his dear friend of many ages. Galion could picture the king's face without looking up.

"But do you still?"

Galion made no reply, scared as to what would happen if he gave the wrong one. Thranduil knelt beside him and whispered in his ear:

"I say that this hobbit stole the keys while Cútur slept, let out the dwarves, and put the keys back. He then put the dwarves into barrels which were pushed into the river. I daresay they will appear in Esgaroth before long. What say you?"

Galion moistened his dry mouth.

"I say: I shall say when we hear of the dwarves again. If they be in Esgaroth, I shall say you are right. If they be somewhere else and the Lake men have not seen them, then I shall say you are...mistaken."

"Sitting on the fence?" The king asked so quietly Galion had to strain his ears to hear it. Thranduil stepped backwards and both kneeling elves looked up at him.

"I shall not put you in charge of the prison for they would be empty within two days of any new prisoners arriving. Therefore, you, Cútur, shall be in charge of the wine cellar and you, Galion, can help me sort out the financial paperwork." The Elevnking's smile told Galion that _he_ would be dealing with most of it.

"I shall send out spies that shall go as close to the Lonely Mountain as they dare and watch for the coming of the dwarves, for unless I have lost all wisdom, I can safely say that they have come to get their treasure back from Smaug. I fear that that shall be the last we will see of them. But, if they do pull off this miracle, they shall not come back through here without the elves taking back what is ours!"

A roar of approval went up around the throne room and Galion understood why the dwarves had refused to tell the king of their mission.

_But he found out anyway._


	5. Fight or fly

Note: this chapter is completely AU.

* * *

_**Fight or Fly (or Put on the Ring)**_

Meer days after the dwarves had escaped, they had reached the mountain, Smaug had destroyed Esgaroth and been destroyed by Bard, the dwarves had not yielded any of their gold, Bilbo had given the enemy the Arkenstone, Thorin had banished Bilbo and a battle between elves and men and the dwarves of the Iron Hills, lead by Dáin had been stopped in order for all three to join forces and fight the wargs and goblins.

"All this over treasure." Mused Thranduil as he stood at bay on Ravenhill with Gandalf, who had returned and Bilbo, without the ring on and his Elven lords. "Name me one war that has not been over treasure. And do you know what the icing on the cake is?" He asked, his voice rising, "They tell me to stand at bay. Me, stand at bay!"

"You are their king, Thranduil. You'll be of no use to them without your head." Gandalf chided.

Thranduil looked at Gandalf out of the corner of his eye.

"I know that. And I am no Wizard's pupil." The two great powers looked at each other, then Thranduil started laughing. Gandalf joined him.

Bilbo sighed with relief, glad that an argument hadn't started.

_Speaking of arguments, when is this battle going to start?_

He looked over at the barricade across the East Gate of The Mountain. No sign of the dwarves.

"They will not come," Thranduil said, reading his thoughts. "They are wise not to."

A horn blew from somewhere down the valley. The Elvenking turned to face the oncoming army, gripping his grey, Dorathian war bow- Bilbo was amazed that it still worked. Thranduil had told him that he had received it after becoming a warrior of Thingol's Hidden Kingdom, some 7,700 years ago.

Gandalf lent towards Bilbo.

"Put on the ring, Bilbo. It won't save you if you are hit, but with your mithril coat and being invisible, you'll have a very good chance of surviving."

"What about the two of you?"

"Don't worry about us, now put it on!"

Bilbo slipped on the ring and stepped back.

He did not notice Thranduil's face crease with pain as the ring's magic came into use.

Nor did he notice the arrow that flew on a collision course with his chest. Thranduil did and threw himself in the arrow's path, knocking it off course with his bow.

_So, I am defending the Ring?_

"Legolas! Come and help and old Elf!"

As the Elvenking turned back from calling to his son, he spied one of the minions of the Necromancer on the crest of the spur. Setting down his bow and drawing his sword, Thranduil called out,

"What are you after?"

The black robed figure pointed at where Thranduil knew Bilbo was.

_The Necromancer _is _Grothaur._

Ignoring the screaming pain from his soul, Thranduil stood just feet away from Bilbo, determined not to let the innocent hobbit be slaughtered for the trinket that he carried.

"You shall not touch him." He hissed.

The figure screeched but wasn't heard over the din of battle. Thranduil was thankful. He felt Legolas stand back-to-back with him. Now he was covered.

"It looks like I am not at all safe, despite all your efforts." He whispered.

Legolas sniggered, Thranduil smiled. The minion of Sauron spurred on his horse and came charging down the slope towards Thranduil and Bilbo. Thranduil ran out to meet him and sword clashed against sword. Thranduil was knocked off balance by the beast's steed and feel head over heels back down the slope.

Gandalf looked at him. Thranduil nodded, showing the Wizard that he was alright, if a little shaken.

As quick as lightning, he was back on his feet, sheathing his sword and taking up his bow. Knocking an arrow to the string, he roughly aimed at the figure that was now attacking Legolas, as the prince was standing between him and his treasure.

Pride for his son welled up in the king's heart as he drew back and fired.

The minion fell dead and Legolas drew a dagger to finish him off. Their victory was short lived, however, as goblins scaled the spur behind them. All hope seemed lost. Even Thorin and his dwarves joining the fray only helped for a little while.

Gandalf, Thranduil and Thranduil's lords drew their blades and headed into the enemy lines, determined to make some kind of end for themselves.

In the increased chaos that followed, a small voice could be heard from the rocks:

"The Eagles are coming! The Eagles are coming!"

Soon, all who fought on Ravenhill took up the cry:

"The Eagles are coming!"

Thranduil freed himself from the fray, stood on a small boulder, and bellowed:

"Hope comes ever from the place unlooked for!"

And all those that heard him replied:

"Hope comes with he who comes last!"

Bilbo heard the cry and it filled him with fire, though he knew better than to draw Sting and join the fighting. He would be slain in an instant. And there was little point anyway. The Eagles swooped down among the fighting, gauging at the orcs, carrying the wargs off in their huge talens and dropping them from thousands of feet down, down, to the battle bellow.

It was at that moment that a rock from above knocked out the hobbit, so there was no-one to warn the Elvenprince about the arrow speeding not to Bilbo this time, but into Legolas' back.


	6. Dream of the future

_**Dream of the Future**_

_Legolas sat as part of a circle of nine people, warming their hands on a small fire. Behind them grew the trees that gave Hollin its name._

_The company consisted of an Elf, a Dwarf, Mithrandir the Wizard, two Men, one of whom he already knew as the now nine-year-old boy Estel and four Hobbits, one of whom carried Isildur's bane._

_He was the heir of Bilbo, the Ring-finder. _

_Bilbo had found it in Gollum's cave whilst on the Quest of Erebor._

_Gollum's cave was in the Misty Mountains._

_Bilbo had the Ring when he passed through Mirkwood._

_His father had been right..._

Legolas sat bolt upright, cursing as the pain from two arrows and a very long gash hit his senses.

"Mae grovannen."

Thranduil sat by his son's bedside. He had been reading the history of the One Ring. He wasn't reading it any longer.

"You were right." Legolas said, slowly.

A smile spread across Thranduil's face.

"I know. I do have quite a bit of knowledge about Grothaur, thank you very much. But I am glad that you recognise the fact."

Anxiety spread over the young elf's face.

"I was one of nine people. We were going through Hollin. With the Ring."- Thranduil's smile faded. - "Adar, do you think it will come true? Where were we going?"

Legolas looked up and saw his father's solemn face.

"Ada?"

"I believe that the vision was true, but, as I did not behold it, I do not know where you were headed. We shall just have to wait and see."

_I meth_


End file.
